This will probably be one of the shortest blogs ever! I’m doing a double portrait at the moment of some friends who are retiring and this picture therefore has to remain a secret until July. It requires much concentration and constant change as I’m using two old photos which are not terribly clear as source material for the painting. At the same time I’m working on another portrait under the heading ‘NHS Heroes’ and although I know from the book I referred to in an earlier blog many of these individuals have already been recorded by artists, I have some of my own. Here is a consultant eye surgeon who treated me not long ago, shortly before the pandemic started. This of course is unfinished and still needs much work:-
I’m looking carefully at techniques, colour palette and surfaces at the moment. The above has been painted on a 12″ x 16″ rigid wooden panel with a clear gesso applied (two layers) prior to using fast drying alkyd oils. The paint dries extremely quickly after application but I’m beginning to figure out how to work in this way and blend the mixes. You are never too old to learn but I’m not sure this is the case with computers, for me anyway!